I followed the directions to a 't,' and mine was still quite stringy. That does NOT mean that we didn't eat the heck out of it, anyway! I did add i chopped green onion to the pot, as well as a few tsps of worcestershire sauce, as well as the hot sauce. I used fat tire beer and served with toasted rosemary seasalt bread cubes, pretezels, and sundried tomato wheat thins sticks. all were very tasty, and next time I think I'll even try apples!